Attorney, researcher, and former United Nations official at the forefront of integrating law, technology, and ethics to strengthen global security and access to justice. His work focuses on how artificial intelligence and emerging technologies reshape legal systems, governance, and the rules of war — and how they can be directed toward peace, equity, and accountability.

Cheatham serves as Counsel at Pragmatic Panic Legal and Social Services, where he leads efforts to modernize legal practice responsibly through AI, bridging local justice with global realities. He is Co-Founder of the JusTech Initiative, which develops international compliance standards and datasets ensuring that AI systems align with humanitarian and human rights law, and Senior Advisor to Bruce AI, a legal-technology platform advancing ethical and efficient practice management.

At King’s College London’s Institute for Applied Security Studies, he is a Senior Research Fellow examining the intersection of AI, conflict, and law, and at Boston University he teaches Disruptive Technologies and State Governance, equipping the next generation of policymakers to navigate an unstable digital world.

Previously, Cheatham spent more than a decade with the United Nations in Iraq, Somalia, and Libya, working on justice reform, political transitions, and the protection of civilians in war zones. His current work draws from those field experiences to advance ethical governance in the age of artificial intelligence.

He holds a Juris Doctor from the City University of New York School of Law, an M.A. in War Studies (Counterterrorism) from King’s College London, and a B.S. in Mass Communications from Boston University, with additional training in Negotiation from Harvard Law School.